Tremolo devices have been used for many years with stringed musical instruments for creating a vibrato sound. Various structures have been proposed and utilized in the prior art for this purpose.
Broadly, a tremolo mechanism provides a means for changing the tension on all of the strings of the instrument simultaneously to create a pitch change during vibration of the strings. Typically, a moving tailpiece on the body of the guitar is utilized to accomplish this tension change. In such a mechanism, a pivot point is established, and the tailpiece pivots about that point. A counter spring is generally utilized to counteract the pull of the strings on the tailpiece. A handle is generally provided for facilitating the pivoting of the tailpiece, while simultaneously playing the instrument.
One of the most troublesome problems with prior art tremolo mechanisms has been the difficulty of initially tuning the instrument. In general, tuning any one string creates a slight change in the tuning of the other strings. Thus, each string must be individually tuned and retuned multiple times in order to reach a satisfactory pitch relationship. Similarly, when a musician attempts to finger bend individual strings, the tune of the open notes is changed slightly, because any change in the tension of a single string moves the equilibrium point of the tremolo mechanism.
Another significant problem relates to the pitch relationship between the individual strings. In the prior art devices, all strings of the instrument are typically moved the same distance when the mechanism is actuated. Since the higher pitched strings of the instrument generally have much more stretch than the lower strings, the lower strings change pitch more readily. For example, if a chord is played on the instrument, and the tremolo mechanism is actuated, the low strings of the instrument detune faster than the high strings, and the pitch relationships within the chord are lost.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to quickly change the string pitch in a stringed musical instrument while maintaining the same relative pitch relationship between the strings.
It is a further object of the invention to rapidly and simply tune the strings of a stringed musical instrument having a tremolo mechanism thereon.
Another object of the invention is to lock a tremolo mechanism in place during the tuning of a stringed musical instrument, and to simply and efficiently unlock the mechanism and adjust it to a desired tuned position.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description or will be learned by practice of the invention.